


Lying To Herself 'Cause Her Liquor's Top Shelf

by softvenus



Category: BioShock, BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games), Bioshock 1 - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Smoking, basically jasmine is upset and silas talks to her, chatting, exotic dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 10:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20190754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softvenus/pseuds/softvenus
Summary: andrew ryan goes to watch jasmine jolene performthey talkhe leavesjasmine has second thoughts about her relationship after thinking about diane mcclintocksilas cobb offers comfortyes jasmine is singing lana del rey's gods and monsters but in this fic cobb wrote it and sang it cause i headcanon him as a singer





	Lying To Herself 'Cause Her Liquor's Top Shelf

Fort Frolic didn’t seem too busy.  
Odd.   
It was usually the busiest area in Rapture around the evening hours.  
No matter.  
Andrew Ryan knew where he was headed.  
He made his way through to Poseidon Plaza.   
Ah. Of course, that’s where everyone was.   
The bustle of the gambling shops would be overwhelming to anyone who wasn’t from Rapture, but Andrew Ryan and everyone else in the underwater utopia had grown accustomed to it.   
The man walked further through the crowds of people and turned the corner.   
There it was.   
Eve’s Garden.  
It wasn’t the type of place he’d imagine himself frequenting at the surface, but this was Rapture, no one would dare question him.  
Many people were standing outside, smoking and placing bets on one thing or the other, a few of them elbowing their fellow gambler to nod at Andrew Ryan.   
The King of Rapture stepped closer to the club, and finally heard her.  
Her.  
Jasmine.  
He knew it was morally wrong, he had a woman hopelessly devoted to him, awaiting him in his apartment, or office.   
Wherever.  
But Jasmine, oh, Jasmine.   
She was a diamond, a real woman who knew how to make a man feel special without even saying a word.  
He entered the garden and gazed up at the stage.  
Her singing was angelic, if you believed in such things.   
In that moment Andrew Ryan thought he might very well believe in them.  
She, Jasmine, set eyes on him immediately as he walked in.  
“Fuck yeah, give it to me, this is heaven, what I truly want…”  
She was beautiful, even with a foul mouth.   
She gave him a dazzling smile and ran a hand through her hair as she continued to sing  
“It’s innocence lost…”  
It wasn’t her own song, of course, he’d heard it before on the radio, one of Cohen’s men, Cobb, was it?  
Ryan didn’t immediately agree with the song, due to the religious imagery and whatnot, but Cohen had managed to convince him through methods that Ryan wouldn’t share with anyone.  
When Jasmine turned to bend over for her audience, the bar’s patrons collectively cheered and many men must have fallen in love right then.  
But Ryan knew she was his.   
She’d promised to devote herself to him, and he’d make sure it stayed that way.  
“God’s dead, I said, baby, that’s alright with me.”  
Was he in love with Jasmine? Of course not. That would be foolish, and Andrew Ryan was not a foolish man.  
Jasmine had two dancers on stage with her, but everyone knew she was the real star, in fact, Ryan hadn’t even noticed them at first until Jasmine pulled one in for a slow, meaningful kiss.  
It was show business, that was all. Ryan knew that.  
Jasmine pulled away from the kiss and grinned at Ryan, continuing her singing and erotic movements.  
She wasn’t a shy girl, but she knew what to keep secret, and she knew what to charge for it.  
Ryan must have looked entranced, because when someone stopped next to him, they laughed down his ear and placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.  
“Hm?” Ryan asked, not taking his eyes off of Jasmine.  
“She’s a real doll, ain’t she?” the 'stranger' murmured in Ryan’s ear, his words punctuated with a thick Boston accent.  
“Indeed, she’s a beautiful woman.” Ryan replied, his eyes glued to his object of affection.  
Whoever the man was patted his shoulder, wished him a good night, and walked away.  
Probably one of the scientists from Hephaestus.  
He didn’t care. Not right then.  
Jasmine was laid on the stage as her song ended, and the lights dimmed.  
Always a touch of the dramatic on Fort Frolic.  
When the lights came back on everyone in the bar cheered, and Jasmine was stood up again.  
“Thank you so much!” she beamed, her eyes on Ryan as money was thrown at her and her backup girls.  
She looked at him longingly, then turned and walked to her dressing room backstage as her girls collected the money.  
Ryan knew where to go. He made his way through a side door and down the short corridor to Jasmine’s dressing room.  
He knocked gently on the door and pushed it open.  
Jasmine turned to look at him enter and she smiled, taking her feathery headpiece out of her hair.  
“Mr Ryan.” she greeted him, standing up and approaching the man.  
She was grateful for him. His kindness, his wealth, his…  
She gasped softly as Ryan took her face in his hands and planted a gentle kiss to her lips.  
“I take it you liked my show?” she asked as he stroked her made up cheeks.  
“As always.” he murmured.  
They’d been flirting ever since they first spoken.  
Ever since he met her at Cohen’s show in New York.  
Ever since he paid for her elocution lessons.  
Ever since he brought her to Rapture and paid for that ridiculously luxurious apartment in Olympus Heights.  
“I always try to put a show on for you, Mr Ryan.” she hummed, pressing another kiss to the corner of his mouth and moving behind a partition to get changed into clothes she could walk home in.  
“Mm. Me and the rest of your audience.” he commented, lighting a cigarette.  
“Oh, Mr Ryan, surely you’re not jealous?” Jasmine teased, her head popping up above the top of the partition to give him a smile.  
“Would you blame me?” he asked, contemplating the smoke rising from his cigarette.  
Jasmine laughed.  
If Ryan did believe in God he would have assumed that he’d sent the woman to Earth from heaven.  
“You know I perform for you, even if you aren’t here to see it.” she told him, stepping out from the partition in black pantyhose, a black skirt and a white blouse.   
Yes, even Jasmine Jolene herself had to dress sensibly from time to time.  
She slid her feet into a pair of black heels and smiled up at him.  
“Do I still grasp your attention dressed like this?” she asked.  
Ryan gave her an approving hum and placed a hand on the small of her back, holding her against him.  
“Of course, lyubimyy.” he said, his eyes flicking from her eyes to her lips.  
“What does that mean?” Jasmine asked, running her fingers over the man’s tie pin.  
He looked at her fondly and shook his head.  
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he teased. Jasmine laughed shortly and pulled away from him to pick up her handbag.  
She opened the door to her dressing room and beckoned Ryan to follow.  
“As much as I’d like to walk you home, I’m afraid I have arrangements.” he told her.  
Jasmine smiled gently and nodded.  
“I understand. You have to keep up an appearance.” she said as they exited the garden and walked through Poseidon Plaza.  
“I’ll hope you keep up yours.” Ryan said, reminding her of her place.  
“Of course, Mr Ryan.” she said.  
He stopped and turned to look at her, luckily for them the plaza had quietened down now that it was getting late.   
“I’ll see you again soon.” he said, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it.  
“Until we meet again, moya lyubov'.” he smiled, and off he went.   
Jasmine sighed as she watched him go and lit a cigarette.   
She approached a store window and looked at her reflection in it. Not too bad, not at all.   
She sure did look like a movie star, just like Ryan had promised she would.  
She turned to assess her figure and sighed, placing a hand on her hip.  
Little did she know she was being watched.  
“Sounded pretty good, kitten.”   
Oh.   
Jasmine turned to see Cobb’s face illuminated by a flame coming from his finger, raised to light a cigarette.  
Cobb. Silas Cobb. One of Cohen's men who had the dreamiest expression on his face at all times, paired with the slyness of a fox. He was a singer, and he mixed music to sell at his shop, Rapture Records.  
They'd met a few times, and every time he'd always treated her like a real lady.  
He pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against and approached her, clicking his fingers again to extinguish the flame.  
“Thank you, Mr Cobb.” Jasmine smiled.   
“Not as good as me, of course.” he teased, being the original singer and writer of the song, no one could sound better than him.  
Jasmine snorted and swatted at him playfully.  
“So...you and Mr Ryan, huh?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.  
Jasmine’s face fell.  
“Um...he’s just...we’re not-”  
“Easy, sugar. I ain’t gonna go tellin’.” he reassured her.  
“Though, you gotta be careful. The walls have eyes and ears, Miss Jolene.” he said, taking a long drag from his cigarette.  
He angled his head when he exhaled as to not breathe smoke at the woman.  
“It’s an arrangement.” Jasmine said.  
“Uh huh.”   
“Look, it’s just...it’s not l-”  
“You ain’t gotta come up with excuses, like I said, I ain’t tellin’”  
Cobb was smart. Everyone in Fort Frolic knew it. He understood the value of information, but wasn’t going to sell it for a drink and a packet of Oxford Club’s.  
He preferred other forms of payment.  
“Can I confide in you?” Jasmine asked him.  
“Sure thing, come on to the record store.” he said, cocking his head in the direction of the stairs.   
Jasmine took his arm when he offered it and led she was led upstairs to his shop.  
Once inside he offered Jasmine a seat whilst he leaned against the wall.  
“What is it?” Silas asked.  
Jasmine sighed and put the stub of her cigarette in an ashtray on the small table in front of her.  
Was it wise to share this with Cobb?   
Really, the question she should have asked herself was 'who else could I share this with?'  
“So, Ryan has a girl already, right? Miss McClintock. She seems to really love him, y’know? I’m not as stupid as I might look, Mr Cobb, I know when a woman is in love. I haven’t met her that many times but I’ve seen her around with Ryan and the way she holds onto his arm and looks up at him…” she trailed off and brought another cigarette to her mouth which Silas lit for her.  
“It just seems cruel to continue with Mr Ryan. But look at what he’s given me. A life in Rapture, a career, an apartment in Olympus Heights, can you believe it?” she said, shaking her head.  
“I know what it’s like to feel like you owe someone your life.” Silas spoke up.  
“Can’t help but sometimes miss life topside.” Jasmine said, taking a drag from her cigarette.  
Silas let out a bitter laugh.  
“Yeah.”   
Jasmine stood up and looked at Silas.  
“You’re a good man, aren’t you?” she asked.   
Silas shook his head and diverted his eyes from looking at her.  
“Ain’t no one in Rapture a good guy, Miss Jolene.” he told her.  
She took a step closer.  
And another.   
Damn it.  
“Mr Cobb, would you-”  
“Miss Jolene, I ain’t the type of guy to mess with Andrew Ryan.” he laughed nervously, stepping out of her path.  
“Intimacy with another man ain’t gonna make your problem go away.”  
Jasmine sighed and sat back down.  
“You’re right. Of course you’re right.” she said, putting her head in her free hand.  
Silas crouched down in front of the chair she was sitting in and gave her a dreamy smile.  
“Hey, it’ll be okay, Miss Jolene.”  
“Jasmine.” she said softly, allowing him to refer to her with familiarity.  
“Jasmine.” he said, squeezing one of her knees with his free hand.   
“You’re gonna be okay, sure, your situation ain’t ideal, but you...you gotta deal with it. Sounds harsh, I know, but ain’t no one lookin’ out for you down here. Every man for himself in Rapture.” he said, standing back up and putting his cigarette in the ashtray.  
“I’m scared, Silas.” Jasmine said, her voice shaky.  
“Scared?”  
Yes, scared. Terrified. Maybe it wasn’t worth it. Maybe she should have stayed in her roll. A backup girl, a girl who didn’t pique Cohen’s interest. A girl who should have stayed on Broadway, living in a damp apartment, earning her money honestly instead of being thrown into a life of luxury with a man that she was scared to go against.  
“Of Ryan.” she said.  
Cobb laughed at that, though not meanly.  
“We’re all scared of Ryan, kitten. But I guess when you’re his bed warmer-”  
She didn’t like that.  
Jasmine glared at him and Silas went back on his statement.  
“His mistress.” he corrected.  
Better.  
“Guess it’s somethin’ you can’t get out of, huh? No one goes against the King of Rapture.” Cobb stated.  
Exactly.  
No one went against the King of Rapture.  
Not even Miss Jasmine Jolene, Andrew Ryan’s favourite gal.  
“Seems so unfair on Miss McClintock.” Jasmine frowned, her thoughts travelling back to the woman. They looked rather alike actually, so what did Jasmine have that she didn’t?  
“‘Course it is.” Silas scoffed.  
Jasmine looked at the ground and sighed heavily, standing up.  
“Thank you, Silas. I’ll give you some reprieve.” she said, stepping toward him.  
Silas leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek and walked her to the door.  
“G’night, Miss Jolene.”  
“Sleep well, Cobb.” Jasmine smiled, waggling her fingers and leaving the store.  
Poseidon Plaza was deadly quiet now. Jasmine made her way through the tunnel to Fort Frolic, and made her way through to the Bathysphere that would take her home.


End file.
